HB1549 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 07443 MLW 37511 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB1549

Introduced , by Rep. Elaine Nekritz

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 2705/2705-200	was 20 ILCS 2705/49.16
605 ILCS 5/4-303	from Ch. 121, par. 4-303

Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Directs the Department of Transportation to establish a Technical Advisory Group that will determine performance measures for all future transportation infrastructure projects. Provides that the Department of Transportation and the Technical Advisory Group shall develop prioritization and performance standards with input from local Metropolitan Planning Groups. Requires the Department of Transportation to report its findings in fiscal year 2014 and implement the plan beginning in fiscal year 2015. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning transportation.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Transportation Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by changing Section 2705-200 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2705/2705-200) (was 20 ILCS 2705/49.16)

Sec. 2705-200. Master plan; reporting requirements.

(a) The Department has the power to develop and maintain a continuing, comprehensive, and integrated planning process that shall develop and periodically revise a statewide master plan for transportation to guide program development and to foster efficient and economical transportation services in ground, air, water, and all other modes of transportation throughout the State. The Department shall coordinate its transportation planning activities with those of other State agencies and authorities and shall supervise and review any transportation planning performed by other Executive agencies under the direction of the Governor. The Department shall cooperate and participate with federal, regional, interstate, State, and local agencies, in accordance with Sections 5-301 and 7-301 of the Illinois Highway Code, and with interested private individuals and organizations in the coordination of plans and policies for development of the state's transportation system.

To meet the provisions of this Section, the Department shall publish and deliver to the Governor and General Assembly by December 31, 2012 and every 5 years thereafter, its master plan for highway, waterway, aeronautic, mass transportation, and railroad systems. The plan shall identify priority subsystems or components of each system that are critical to the economic and general welfare of this State regardless of public jurisdictional responsibility or private ownership.

The master plan shall include a comprehensive and multimodal freight mobility plan which shall analyze commodity flows, assess the freight transportation network, and identify significant freight system trends, needs, and economic opportunities. It shall recommend improvements in the operation and management of the freight system, projects that will eliminate inefficiencies in the State's freight network, methods of funding needed for freight system improvements, and policies to ensure the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of goods within and through the State and to ensure the State's economic vitality. The freight mobility plan shall incorporate and maintain compatibility with any federally required rail plan affecting this State.

The master plan shall provide particular emphasis and detail of at least the 5-year period in the immediate future.

Annual and 5-year, or longer, project programs for each State system in this Section shall be published and furnished the General Assembly on the first Wednesday in April of each year.

Identified needs included in the project programs shall be listed and mapped in a distinctive fashion to clearly identify the priority status of the projects: (1) projects to be committed for execution; (2) tentative projects that are dependent upon funding or other constraints; and (3) needed projects that are not programmed due to lack of funding or other constraints.

All projects shall be related to the priority systems of the master plan, and the priority criteria identified. Cost and estimated completion dates shall be included for work required to complete a useable segment or component beyond the period of the program.

The master plan shall include the documentation and information required pursuant to Section 4-303(b) of the Illinois Highway Code.

(b) The Department shall publish and deliver to the Governor and General Assembly on the first Wednesday in April of each year a 5-year, or longer, Highway Improvement Program reporting the number of fiscal years each project has been on previous plans submitted by the Department.

(c) The Department shall publish and deliver to the Governor and the General Assembly by November 1 of each year a For the Record report that shall include the following:

(1) All the projects accomplished in the previous fiscal year listed by each Illinois Department of Transportation District.

(2) The award cost and the beginning dates of each listed project.

(Source: P.A. 97-32, eff. 6-28-11.)

Section 10. The Illinois Highway Code is amended by changing Section 4-303 as follows:

(605 ILCS 5/4-303) (from Ch. 121, par. 4-303)

Sec. 4-303.

(a) Investigations made by the Department to determine the reasonably anticipated future need for federal aid highways and State highways may include, but shall not be limited to, the making of traffic surveys, the study of transportation facilities, research concerning the development of the several areas within this State and contiguous territory as affected by growth and changes in population and economic activity and the collection and review of data relating to all factors affecting the judicious planning of construction, improvement and maintenance of highways. Such investigations may also be conducted in cooperation with counties, municipalities, the United States, sister states, agencies of any such governments or other persons in pursuance of agreements to share the cost thereof. The Department is authorized to enter into such agreements.

(b) Guidelines.

(1) Purpose. The purpose of this subsection is to ensure that transportation infrastructure projects in the State of Illinois foster long-term state and local economic development and enhance the quality of life for Illinois residents. It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide a statewide, data-rich, outcomes-based, transparent, and accountable approach to prioritizing transportation infrastructure projects so that public funds are used effectively for these transportation projects and allocated based on defined performance criteria. Accordingly, as provided in this subsection, all transportation funds appropriated by the State, including, but not limited to, appropriations from the Road Fund, State Construction Account Fund, Capital Projects Fund, and transportation bond funds shall be allocated based on plans submitted by the Metropolitan Planning Organizations for their areas of jurisdiction and the annual and multi-year highway improvement programs prescribed by the Illinois Highway Code and federal law. This subsection shall not apply to (i) any grant programs administered by the Department of Natural Resources, (ii) any funds administered by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that support local transportation improvements as part of an economic development project, or (iii) any monies distributed to local government entities pursuant to item (2) of subsection (e) of Section 8 of the Motor Fuel Tax Law.

(2) Scope. For purposes of this subsection, transportation infrastructure projects shall include, without limitation, projects for highways maintenance, highway modernization, highway expansion, transit, and high-speed rail.

(3) Project Selection Process. The Department shall develop and utilize a process for the selection of transportation infrastructure projects that is based on defined performance measures established under this subsection. The strategic prioritization process to develop these performance measures shall be systematic and data-driven and shall include input from the Metropolitan Planning Organization having jurisdiction over the proposed project.

(4) Technical Advisory Group. To develop the performance measures required by this subsection, the Department shall establish and convene a Technical Advisory Group consisting of representatives from the Department, the State's Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and other appropriate partners. The Technical Advisory Group shall establish performance measures for transportation infrastructure projects, formalize the input of Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the evaluation and prioritization of transportation infrastructure projects, and establish a methodology to measure funding decisions for transportation infrastructure projects against the performance measures established under this subsection.

(5) Performance Measures. The performance measures established under this subsection shall, at a minimum, include the following criteria: (i) improving access and mobility for users, (ii) preserving and managing the existing transportation system, (iii) supporting multi-modal choices, (iv) maximizing social equity benefits of transportation investments, (v) fostering safety, (vi) coordination of current long-range plans, (vii) improving the environment, (viii) reducing congestion by improving the movement of people, (ix) fostering economic development, (x) improving quality of life, (xi) moving a growing, diverse and active population, and (xii) ensuring transparency and accountability.

(6) Initial Report. The initial report of the Technical Advisory Group shall, at a minimum, include recommendations to: (i) specifically define transportation infrastructure projects consistent with this subsection, (ii) establish and clearly identify the performance standards required under this subsection, (iii) establish a protocol for how the established performance measures will be used to evaluate, measure, and prioritize transportation infrastructure projects, and (iv) establish a process to ensure qualitative input on the evaluation and prioritization of projects from, among others, Metropolitan Planning Organizations. The Technical Advisory Group shall provide its initial report to the Secretary of Transportation pursuant to this subsection no later than the end of Fiscal Year 2014. The Secretary of Transportation shall report these recommendations to the General Assembly no later than September 1, 2014.

(7) Master Plan. The Department shall implement the Technical Advisory Group's recommendations beginning in Fiscal Year 2015. Beginning in Fiscal Year 2015 and in every year thereafter, the Department shall include as part of its multi-year highway improvement program an analysis and related documentation detailing how performance measures established under this subsection were applied in the development of the program and how these performance measures were applied to prioritization and funding decisions. This documentation shall include a list of the performance criteria used, a description of how each performance criterion is weighted, and a copy of the plan received from the Metropolitan Planning Organization having jurisdiction over the project. This documentation shall be included as a part of the multiyear highway improvement program.

(Source: Laws 1959, p. 196.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.